Musical instrument



J. c. soclN MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Filed spt. 5, 1925 March 20, 1928.

BY /JM ATroRNEYs f Patented Mar. 20, 1928.

UNITED STATE-s PATENT oFfFlce;

JOSEPH' C. SOCINOF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK."

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

' Applicationlled September 5, 1925;Serial-No. 54,599.

This invention relates to adevice bywhich musical compositions -can' be played in Va manner similar to the-Way pianos are played,

thi'swinvention tongues or'teeth which may be vibrated to produce musical notes can lbef struck* byfa picker por 1 the" tlike by bringing the saine' linto vContact withA the tongue while passing' by'it inl-ione direction, andthe' pickercan'be restrained'or prevented-from striking f the'tongue when'passing by -it in 'theothen direction. Also,-1means are provided by:

which the tonguesr eanf'be damped Ato stop their vibrationprornptly afterthe key which causesV the Vtongue to vibrate -liasreturned to f its normal position. The keys for vibrating.

the "tongues"V maybe arranged in the same way as the keys of a piano, and present veryk much vthe appearance of= the ykeyboard of a piano'.

The linvention will 1 be understood from@ the description in "connect-ion' with the Iaccompanying drawings, in Iwhich FigLl is a side.

view-of the device and Fig. 2 is a plan .view

of the same, partly broken awayL-I' In the drawings; -referencecharacter :1 indicates -a sounding boxthat is preferably madelof metal, although Vvother f appropriate material'may be used: Thisbox is mounted upona support 2 which is, lin turn,"mounted1 upon `the base of the instruments` A metali strip-4, which maybe -*made of brass or vother metal ofpropery thickness,` is placed' upon-` the sounding box 1 and a metalplate with integraltongues 7 extendingalong one edge,

somewhat: like'thefteeth'ofa comb, spaced they same distance apa-rt, is attached` thereto 40 by passing screws' through thesameand intothesupport 2. l These tongues. 7` are so formed f that they willi vibrate. at, different frequenciesso as to produceidierent tones.

This is preferably accomplishedby: having the tongues of diferent'flengths,ffthe shorter ones toward the rright-.handend of vtheinstrument and the longer onesto give lthe lowertones towardthe 'leftehand or baseend of the instrument. Instead'v ofmakng the cton'guesrof dierentvlengths so asfto provide different tones, these tongues may bemade of different'. widths orfthicknesses for Vthe same purpose; Y

A pluralityo-'keys 8, similarvto thekeys of a pianoandlpreferably arrangedto duplicate the same, are pivoted on afcrossfpiece 29 thatis'mountedupon the base 3. Pins 10 lpr`o3ect upwardly yfron the lcrosspiece 9 keys8 onv the'lowersidefthereof into which upright pinsf13 attached to the base' prof jectp The holes'12 ma ialsofiberlined'withVy f felt'. l Padding-14 of fe t or lthelike is pro-j vided Varound these pins 13 to limit 'then' downward travel of the fronti ends 1of the' keys 8;? Arbar 16.extends'transversely across"V the' base 3 and 'is retained a short:- distance'iv abovethe keys 8 by meansofithelposts H17 which areanchored'in the'base 3, and whose upperends are threaded and provided :with: nuts V18 and 119 to clamp the bar 16 in'posii tion and adjusts the'same upwardly' or down` wardlywhen desired. ThefkeysS are prow vided'along theirftop sidesr with springs 20- attachedA to the. keys fby' screws'Ql, 'these' springs bearing'against the lower sideoflthe;l padding 221 alongwthe bottom side of the:

bar/16,1so that the keys are normally heldy by? the springs 2O with theirffront'ends,vor

throughelongated holes` lllin-the keys 8, 1 which holes may be lined with felt or ther' l like to prevent noise'.l Other'elongated holes A12 are provided near the front ends of the'y let-handvends, as shown. in Fig'wl, in an elevated' position@- Each key 8 is provided with'a pivot lug25 that is screwed thereto by'means -of the screw 26. A lever 28 is piv oted 'by meansv of the crossl pin 29 to .each lug-25, yand an adjustablel'screw 30 whose head rests-upon the pad 31 on lever 8 limits" the downwardY travel'of the outer .end kof the lever 28. An upright standard 32 is rigidly connected'to each llever' 28, and a wire spring 33'lis inserted in each standardBQ and bears against a pad orrest34' onthe lug25, sowas to4 tend to keep'the'standards'SQ turned to the right," asV seen in Fig..1. Each standard 32'carries an adjustable picker or screw. 35,

the'ends cfwhich are yrounded or conically shaped where they strikethe tongues?.

The -backside'38`of thecase of the' instruV- ment-is providedfwith a longitudinal rest piece 39, which may be screwed or fastened thereto in any convenient manner.' VThe rest "f piece39 is providedwith aplurality of pivot lugsfl() that are' fastened thereto' by. means of screwslll.y A lever'42 is pivoted by means of "the cross pin'43 to eachV lug 40, and a spring 44, onefend` of which is anchoredfin so as to press the same downwardly. Adjustable screws 47 pass through levers 42, and the lower ends thereof carry dampers 48 for striking the tongues 7. The outer ends of the levers 42 may be provided with wear pieces 50 of leather, for example, which contact with the upper rounded ends 36 of the upright standards 32.

The operation is as follows: When the Voperator depresses the end ont any key 8 so rounded end 36 ot the standard 32 travelsv in the arc of a circle, it slides slightly on the wear piece 50 away trom the pivot 43, and when pressure upon the left-hand end of the lever 8 is released, the spring 2O causes' the other end to descend, and as the upper rounded end 36 of the standard 32 is trictionally held by the wear piece 50, it does not travel back along the same arc of a circle, but turns in an anti-clockwise direction with respect to key 8 around the pivot 29, so that the end of the picker 35 is held suliiciently tar to the lett to prevent it irom striking the end of ythe tongue 7 as the picker 35 descends. As soon as the lever 42 urged downwardly by gravity and also by the spring 44 descends sutliciently for the damper 48 to rest upon the tongue 7, the tongue is caused to ceasevibrating, it it has not already done so, and the lever 42 is stopped. A slight farther downward movement of the standard 32 takes its upper end out of contact with the wear piece 50, so that the spring 33 is tree to turn the same in a clockwise direction around the pivot 29, thus bringing the end of the picker 35 into position ready to strike the tongue 7 again on upward travel. The screws 30 and 47 can be easily adjusted so as to cause the upper end ot the standard 32 and the wear piece 50 to disengage just before the end of the key 8 strikes the stop pad 24, and the picker 85 can be adjusted longitudinally so that it will strike the tongue 7 properly on its upward travel.

'I claim: v

l. In a device or' the character described, a plurality of members capable of producing dierent tones when vibrated, means for striking said members when moving relative thereto in one direction, and means operated by sliding friction to prevent said members from being struck by said striking means when it moves in the opposite direction.

2. In a device of the character described,

Lesage@ a plurality of tongues capable of producing diiierent tones when vibrated, a striker to vibrate each of said tongues by an upward movement, and means to prevent said tongues from being struck when the strikers move downwardly.

3. ln a device of the character described, a plurality ot tongues capable of producing diiierent tones when vibrated, said tongues being mounted side by side on a sounding box, means for striking the ends ot said tongues when moving transversely thereto in one direction, and means operated by slid-v ing friction to prevent said tongues from being struck by said striking means when it moves in the opposite direction.

4. ln a device of the character described, a plurality oi' tongues capable ot producing diderent tones when vibrated, means for striking the ends ot said tongues when ymoving transversely thereto in one direction, means to prevent said tongues 'from being struck by said striking means when it moves in the opposite direction, and dampers for said tongues carried by said preventive means.

Y 5. ln a device ot the character described, a plurality ot tongues capable of producing ditterent tones when vibrated, pivoted levers carrying means near the ends thereof for striking the .ends of said tongues when moving transversely thereto in one direction, and means to prevent said tongues` from being struck by said striking means when it moves in the opposite direction.

6. ln a device of the character described, a plurality oi tongues capable of producing diiterent tones when vibrated, pivoted levers carrying adjustable screws for striking the ends of said tongues when moving transversely thereto in one direction, and means to prevent said tongues from beingpstruck by said striking means when it moves in the opposite direction. Y

7. ln a device of the character described, a plurality of tongues capable of producing different tones when vibrated, spring pressed pivoted levers for striking the ends ot said tongues when moving transversely thereto in one direction, and means operated by sliding trictionto prevent said tongues from being struck by said striking means when it moves in the opposite direction.

8. In a device of the character described, a plurality of tongues 'of different lengths mounted upon a sounding box, a key .for vibrating each tongue, each key having a lever pivoted thereon, said levers carrying pickers to strike said tongues in one direction, and pivoted levers above said tongues to prevent the same from being struck as the pickers vmove in the opposite direction.

9. In a device of the character described, a plurality oftongues Vo'lf dili'erent lengths mounted upon a Vsounding` box, a key for vibrating each tongue, each key having a lever pivoted thereon, said levers carrying pickers to strike said tongues in -one direction, and pivoted levers above said tongues to prevent the same from being struck as the pickers move in the opposite direction, said last named levers carrying dampers to contact with said tongues.

l0. In a device of the character described, a plurality of tongues of diierent lengths mounted upon a sounding box, a key for vibrating each tongue, each key having a lever pivoted thereon, said levers carrying pickers to strike said tongues in one direction, pivoted levers above said tongues to prevent the same from being struck by said pickers as they move in the opposite direction, and means for adjusting the positions of said levers on said keys.

1l. In a device of the character described, a plurality of tongues of diilerent lengths mounted upon a sounding box, a key for vibrating each tongue, each key having a lever pivoted thereon, said levers carrying pickers to strike said tongues in one direction, and pivoted levers above said tongues to prevent the same from being struck by said pickers as they move in the opposite direction, the upper ends of said first named pivoted levers being rounded Where they contact with said second named levers.

JOSEPH C. SOCIN. 

